


Sirens and Shipwrecks

by toomuchdiscourse (orphan_account)



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magical Realism, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Shipwrecks, Trans Aaron Burr
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-14
Updated: 2017-01-18
Packaged: 2018-09-17 09:18:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9315140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/toomuchdiscourse
Summary: "This had to be the weirdest shipwreck that anyone had ever gone through"A human Aaron Burr is conveniently trapped on a tiny island, and the Merfolk who live near it won't leave him alone





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Human World; It's a Mess (Discontinued)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8075710) by [Hubris_BNL](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hubris_BNL/pseuds/Hubris_BNL). 



> NOTE: I just reuploaded this work because I accidentally linked it to my brother and honestly no sacrifice is too great for the noble goal of preventing my fics from falling into the hands of family. SO: if you're one of the 3 people who Kudo'd this work beforehand, that's why your kudo disappeared. 
> 
> the concept is entirely from The Human World; It's a Mess by Hubris_BNL, but who is a Merperson is reversed- here, the squad are mer and Burr, Jefferson, and Madison are all human. So if you haven't read it, go do that. Just go read everything from Hubris_BNL actually, it's all good stuff, lots of great Burr-centric content. JeffMads is very much canon in the background, but I'm not listing the ship because it doesn't feature noticeably and honestly it's a pet peeve of mine when you're looking for fic of a ship and only find background mentions of it.

Aaron woke up to sand in his mouth. It took a moment for him to realize it wasn't figurative, for all that he was also feeling bone dry. Aaron coughed weakly, pitifully. Every inch of him felt boneless and raw. 

“Wh-” He coughed again, choking on sand granules. Aaron pulled his body up and over his legs in an approximate kneel, though he felt heavier than lead. The movement shifted Aaron into piping hot sand. He yelped at the sudden scalding, and then winced- his voice came out weak and strangled, tearing at his throat.

“Oh, he sat up!” A foreign voice, crystal clear and completely free of the painful dryness that plagued Aaron's, rang from somewhere behind him. He froze in shock; they did not sound like anyone he knew. 

“Humans sleep far too much.” Chimed another strange voice, followed by a splash and the slap of skin against skin.

“It's because he was hurt, we went over that already.” This one was deeper, but still strangely melodic- Aaron thought of a ringing church bell carried on the ocean breeze. Something must have happened to scramble him so, he was rarely this abstract. Slowly, Aaron blinked his eyes open, immediately watering from both the sand burrowed between his eyelids and the harsh light of the sun. Rubbing his eyes only made the problem worse, but he worked at it anyways. The incoherent light slowly separated into colours and shapes, and then into sand, rocks, and trees. 

“Wait what, he's awake!? Holy shit guys, shut up!” A fourth person, loud like the echoes of a conch horn. Aaron blinked again, turning his body to get a look at whoever was behind him. He should be more afraid, jumping up and defending himself the moment he knew he wasn't alone. But Aaron was very tired, and considered it a victory that he was even able to face the strangers. His skin pulled painfully as he readjusted himself, in a way that only awful sunburns ever could. “He's turning around, what do we do!?” The conch-shell voice again, sounding slightly familiar somehow. 

Aaron blinked. In front of him now was a very picturesque beach, white-blue waves frothing onto golden pale sand. The ocean stretched as far as Aaron could see, enveloping his entire field of view save for the four figures half extended from the surf. All of them inhumanly handsome men, and all of them with looks of excited awe. The closest lurched forward, meeting Aaron's gaze with dark yet bright eyes and long, similarly deep coloured hair loosely tied back.. Had they met-?

A laugh, beautiful brass notes that Aaron could listen to for hours. Words that were bright and curious rather than honeyed, despite the lovely voice that carried them- “Burr, put your fucking earplugs back in, they lure people to their death, you don't need the help!”. 

An indignant chiming, then annoyance, “Thomas, he's not trying anything, calm down. I'm wearing that stupid harness besides,” 

Aaron winced again, feeling for his head and finding a painful lump, covered by a mass of wet seaweed somehow tangled around his head. That would explain why his brain seemed so muddled. He remembered- wait, what was the last thing he remembered?

“Is the human okay?” the first voice, belonging to a face framed by a storm of freckles and bushy hair, hid just behind the vaguely familiar man. Aaron wondered why they kept saying 'human', like they were something else. They looked human, not like any of the Elves or Sprites Aaron had seen. Then another one of them, bigger and heavyset, pulled himself forward on his hands and what should have been his knees, only as he moved forward his backside disappeared into the sleek, powerful tail of a sea creature. The sight was shocking, but not as much as the sudden images it brought back to Aaron's mind. 

“I've been yelling at you to change course all day- you stupid humans! I've been trying to help, and you dare think I'd do this!?”

“Just- just don't let your little boat flip over, okay? I don't want you to sink when I finally found a human who will talk to me.”

The ground heaving up and down, wood slick with water. Roiling waves reaching up to meet him- human flesh blending into fish under his tight grip and salt water burning his throat. Thomas and James screaming for him as a rope snaps, the flip of a giant tail before another wave crashes down on him. “Aaron!”

“Whe-” Aaron coughed as he tried speaking again, but this time he could feel the words working, even if it did rasp painfully. “Where am I? Did- something happened to the boat..?” He still didn't have the full picture, but it was coming together. He remembered now the sailing trip with Thomas and James, mainly that he hadn't even wanted to go, but they had insisted- Aaron had spent too much of the holiday holed away in the resort. “The other two I was with, are they alright?”

“I think so,” The one Aaron had somehow and at some previous point spoken too assured, his hands raised in placation. “You were thrown off the boat and by the time I got you, I couldn't get you back to it again. It was a bad storm, but probably not bad enough to sink a ship of that size. If only you could have kept your feet on it, though.” The information made sense, fitting into what little Aaron could piece together. “By the way, do you remember me? We spent the day learning about each other's species. It looks like you kind of do, but also like you don't quite? But you aren't freaking out about the tail thing like you did when we first met..”

The rushed chatter certainly rang a bell, Aaron realized, even as he sagged in relief at the possibility that his friends were safe. Merfolk, a fantastical and extremely elusive race that very few humans ever saw, and of course one shows up on his very first voyage, just to fire off a thousand questions when Aaron didn't immediately pop in his spelled earplugs. 

“I remember pieces, but not a lot”, Aaron admitted. Mere fragments, especially considering his usually excellent memory. 

“That's okay. We met yesterday. I brought you to the closest land I knew about, and Herc helped patch you up, or at least your head.” 

The bigger Mer nodded at that, and scooted forward again. “I set that wrap at least six hours ago, I could check it for you again?” 

Aaron realized with sudden clarity that the seaweed was a wrapped bandage around his injury, not a random tangle, and immediately he brought both hands up to feel. It was pulled tight, professionally, and neatly knotted at one end. Instinctively, he tested it with a light tug. “Hey- don't do that!” A tail slapped against the shallow water, startling Aaron. “You don't want to jostle that and lose the poultice John made, you need it to heal.”

Instinctively, that made Aaron peer at the remaining mer, for one of them should be this John. Sure enough, the freckled one dipped his head, almost shyly. “It was a rush job, but I used my best ingredients.” He gave as explanation as Aaron stared.

“Thank you.” Aaron said, to be polite but also out of genuine gratefulness. Consciously, he brought his hands back down so as not to disturb the dressing. He let them fall, fidgeting as his palms came into contact with more fresh sand, uncomfortably warm from a day of contact with the sun. “Would any of you happen to know where I could get some freshwater? And, if it's no trouble, the nearest human settlement?” He needed to get out of the sun, too. Hell, maybe he could just pass out under those trees and find civilization later, Aaron wasn't even certain if he could stand, never mind walk however many miles away the nearest harbour was. 

His question was met with four incredulous stares. It wasn't a promising sight.

“What is freshwater?” John, the freckled one, queried with an honest air of confusion, as if Aaron had asked for the magic-force unification equation. Maybe it was a stupid question, Merfolk probably filtered the water they needed as all ocean species did. Simply looking human-like said little about their biology. 

“Oh, new human friend, you would leave us so quickly?” The Mer that hadn't spoken directly to Aaron yet, tight curls bound even tighter behind his head, crawled closer to him as well- the last to leave the relative safety of deeper water. Audaciously, he pulled himself entirely out of the water, shimmying over the hot sand beside Aaron. This close up, Aaron realized that the mer was very long. Longer than the one who had bandaged his head, but much slighter of frame such that he didn't appear so big at first. The Mer slowly blinked, fluttering his long eyelashes and smiling almost flirtatiously. “We have only just met.”

“Lafayette, oh my god.” One of the others muttered under their breath. Aaron ignored it, more concerned about the uncertainty of meeting members of a relatively unknown species now that one had erased the barrier of space between them. 

“Uhhm,” Aaron forced out. He should probably push the mer away? Or create distance somehow? But there was something ethereal about him. The Mer was simply- though there was nothing simple about any of them- beautiful, almost overwhelming this close up. Aaron felt himself holding in breath, incapable of disturbing the moment. A hand carefully reached up to Aaron, with long, perfectly elegant and almost delicate fingers offset by the very non-human webbing between each digit. Each finger was topped by a cheerfully coloured yet deadly sharp claw. Aaron released his breath in a rush “I do not mean to offend, only that-” He cut himself off as the hand gently touched at Aaron's cheek. It was cold and wet, and should have been clammy but was instead soothing. 

“My apologies, little one. Your eyes are just captivating. I have been waiting for them to open.” 

Aaron felt dizzy. Now was not the time to be blushing like a schoolgirl, but his heart pounded regardless. “Um,” he said again, uselessly. “My name is Aaron Burr”, he corrected, just so he wouldn't be called 'little one' again.

The mer infront of him lit up at the words, but the three still in the surf shifted excitedly as well. “I am honoured you trust me with your name, little Burr!” Why were they so pleased by a simple name? And furthermore, if having his name was 'an honour', why did he call Aaron 'little' again? The mer took his hand away from Aaron's face to prop under his own chin as he leaned further into the sand beside him. Aaron tried not to miss the comforting coolness. “My name is Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de Lafayette, though you may call me Lafayette.” 

This, inexplicably, sparked annoyance throughout the group. “Asshole, I was going to give him my name first. I found him, you know” The familiar Mer pouted. 

“You had your chance, Alexander.” Lafayette's smirk was wide and smug. “How can you expect me to resist a name-bond?” 

“Name bond?” Aaron croaked out, baffled again. 

“Do humans not know about it? I thought they all had magic, too?” The freckled one frowned. “If humans don't even have magic compatibility, that poultice won't work at all.” His frown deepened, and he started worrying his lip.

“No, we are.” Aaron interrupted the thought process. “There's not a lot of witches- people who use magic- but we're all compatible. All sentient creatures are..?” Aaron trailed off, uncertain. There were some confirmed fantastical species, and every one so far could have magic performed on them, but the field of magical studies had never been well developed. 

The freckled one brightened, like the sun had come back up again. “Yes, that's what we were hoping!” And then, he shot a sly look at the familiar one. “My name is John Laurens, at your service. I usually go by 'Laurens', though”

The familiar one sputtered. The one who had bandaged him laughed, joining in. “I am Hercules Mulligan. Don't mind Alex, he's just jealous.” Lafayette, still beside him, chuckled at that, and Aaron skipped a beat, faltering at how beautiful the sound was and how close it was to his ear. 

The familiar one huffed, impossibly blushing, and surged forwards out of the water as well. “Alexander Hamilton.” He flopped at Aaron's other side, holding a hand out in front of Aaron's nose. “This is how humans greet, right? I've observed that much.”

Hesitantly, Aaron shook the proffered hand. Alexander's grip was awkward and too strong, but the handshake was surprisingly natural for someone who had only ever seen it from a distance. The Mer focused laser-sharp on their hands, smiling brightly at Aaron when they released, only a few moments longer than Aaron was used to. 

Of course, this caused the final two- Hercules and Laurens- to approach as well, curious at the exchange. “Can I try shaking your hand, Aaron?” Laurens gave a smile that felt sugar sweet, even if it made sharp teeth poke out from between his lips. 

The attention was overwhelming, and Aaron reached for something to say. “So, why is ah, Lafayette's name so much longer? I mean, does he hail from somewhere else, or do all Mer names vary like that?”

Lafayette perked up at the mention, and opened his mouth to answer, when suddenly Aaron realized. “Wait, no, hold up. I asked where the nearest human settlement was. You distracted me.” He tried to glare at Lafayette, who paused in confusion, before closing his mouth in a slight grimace and glancing away from Aaron for the first time. 

Aaron looked around, and the expression was mirrored on all of the Mer. His chest filled with dread. “Hey, come on.” Tails shifted, fingers twiddled. 

Finally, Alexander let out a short, loud breath before meeting Aaron's eyes with his own sheepish gaze. “This is our island. It was the only dry land I could get you to, your ship was already far from the human populated islands, and I don't even know exactly how to get to them either, because obviously we can't get to close to human shores anyways. I was just so afraid that you would drown, I don't know how much it takes to kill humans, and I would have brought you around the other side to the coves we use, but I had to get you to shore first, and then you weren't awake, and-!” He caught his breath, looking more guilty now than sheepish. “I'm sorry. There's no humans on this island. Please don't be mad.” 

And so the other shoe falls, Aaron thought, his mind in shock. Objectively, he should immediately worry that this was all a ruse and he'd been abducted by Merfolk. Myth always said that they could control the waves and currents, and used their beautiful melodic voices to lure sailors. But Aaron also prided himself as a good judge of bullshit, and the person in front of him didn't appear to have a dishonest bone in his body. The expressions of awkward guilt from the others were all too real as well. 

Of course, abducted or not, he was still the only human apparently stuck on an uninhabited island. The dryness in his throat and the pain of his body seemed all the more pressing now. He may not be alone, but his companions were of a species that didn't even know what freshwater was. Finally, Aaron found the strength to attempt standing, pushing his legs down and under his center of gravity. It was every bit as difficult as Aaron imagined, his feet so weak and unsteady that he nearly toppled over several times on the way to standing upright.

“Wait, where are you going, please don't leave!” Alexander reached out to him, but didn't grab or pull. Aaron was thankful, he suspected that it would only take a light tap to knock him over. 

“Stay with us, little Burr, those legs do not look like they will hold you.” The words should have been teasing, but there was a noticeable edge of concern. Aaron felt himself further crowded, the Merfolk edging closer, looking at Aaron like he was a frightened, injured animal that they were trying to nurse. Perhaps that wasn't so inaccurate. 

“I have to go further inland. My skin is burning up in the sun, and I need food and freshwater- not ocean water, it's salt levels are too high for humans to drink.”

“Oh, you meant landwater?” Instantly, Aaron felt a measure of hope.

“Well why didn't you say that earlier, we know what landwater is, there's a little river just a few miles down that way.” Laurens pointed helpfully to Aaron's right. “You'll have to go inland a bit to get to the landwater, but there is plenty of it. That's why we claimed this island in the first place, even though it's small, it's got plenty of waterways to travel through.” Laurens nodded at his own words, looking proud.

A few miles felt much too far in Aaron's mind, which was now starting to pound, but at least there was water to be had at all. Aaron supposed it was silly to assume they had no concept whatsoever of non-ocean water. He took a few steps, weak and short and painful, attempting to go around Lafayette to the direction needed. Before he could, the Mer threw his hands out to block Aaron.

“No, please, let me carry you there, through the water. You look in pain.” Lafayette fluttered too-long eyelashes. 

“I...” Aaron was again unsure of himself. “I don't need help. I can do it.” The pleading looks of his new companions spoke differently. Aaron should be firm about this, shouldn't he? He should be uncomfortable at the idea of letting a Mer drag him back into the water, especially when he was so weak. 

“Aaron, please.” This time it was Hercules, reaching out to gently touch Aaron's shoulder. “Humans eat fish, right? How about I go catch some for you, while you let Lafayette take you up the river. He'll find some shade for you, and John can check that dressing.” Aaron hesitated. Lafayette held a hand out, while Laurens agreed loudly at the suggestion.

“I'll go ahead and make a spot for you to rest!” Alexander said, clearly itching for something to do. “I've seen humans eat the insides of coconuts, I'll prepare some of those as well!” Four pairs of eyes stared beseechingly at Aaron. He could only nod slightly, carefully clasping the hand held out to him. 

This had to be the weirdest shipwrecking anyone had ever gone through.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the squad tries to start a fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was talking with Hubris_BNL about nicknames the squad might use for each other, and I liked the idea that John Laurens only goes by Laurens for most people, making his first name a nickname on its own, so I slightly edited the first chapter to reflect that. Back in the day everyone used their last names a lot more from what I understand, so I guess in a modern AU it's really a matter of interpretation
> 
> for the record, my Hamilton blog @Burreos has bits and pieces that won't necessarily make it into ao3. You can browse the tag "sirens and shipwrecks" for all stuff related to this fic, or just browse the tag "fic" for all my Hamilton writing. Right now, there are 2 short side pieces for Sirens, and an unrelated fic featuring superpowers AU where Burr has plant powers (idea via @Pinkconsultingsociopath). 
> 
> Yes, I'm promoting my blog, sue me :P

Aaron had thought his new merfolk friends were overbearing before, but apparently that was them being cautious. The experience of being carried through the water like an invalid was one thing, even if Lafayette- his ride- laughed at Aaron's obvious embarrassment. Being delicately laid down on a bed of palm fronds, surrounded by a pile of coconuts and other fruit and waited on by four eager Mer was another thing. 

Of course, Aaron didn't have much time to appreciate it either way, as he immediately leaned down to the river and drank so much water that he had to turn and puke most of it into the grass, passing out not long after to the sound of horrified shouting. 

Being nursed by people of a completely different species was interesting. Aaron left it at that. Hercules helped unwrap the bandage on his head, fingers a comforting coolness against the throbbing inside his skull. And when the fresh bandage came on, he relished the careful, neat way it was tied. Aaron did his best not to lean into the touch, feeling a bit ridiculous at how nice it felt to be cared for, even by strangers. 

There were downsides, of course. Even despite the healing dressing, Aaron became sick. He threw up again, mostly stomach bile, but was able to drink afterwards at a reasonable pace without losing any more. His head still pounded from hunger and dehydration. Both were eased as Lafayette kept pushing a shell filled with water at Aaron, and Alexander kept retrieving fruit from all over the island. 

Thankfully, human and Mer biology was at least similar enough that Laurens put a hand to Aaron's forehead and immediately recognized a fever. In minutes Aaron was given herbal medication and a wonderfully cool wet cloth for his head. 

Aaron wasn't sure if merfolk had less personal space in general, or just these specific merfolk, but he was increasingly aware that they kept touching him. Either that, or Aaron was just such a loner that any physical contact stood out. It wasn't anything indecent: on his forehead of course, adjusting and changing the cloth, on his hands and wrists, on his shoulders, even on the small of his back when someone was helping him sit up. He was exceedingly aware of all of it, each brush of contact blessedly cool. Or maybe it was just the fever- it wasn't bad enough to make Aaron delirious, but that didn't mean he was completely sane, either.

The next time Aaron woke up, it was to raw fish in his face. “Please,” Hercules was looking at him with an air of desperation. “You haven't eaten anything but fruit. You need more energy than that to get through the sickness.” He spoke delicately, like Aaron was a stubborn child. Maybe it looked that way, as Aaron had politely declined the fish before, without explaining that he'd need to cook it. Instead, Aaron merely expressed preference for the fruits Alexander had gathered, in the hope of not offending anyone (Alexander had been elated, at least). 

Now, of course, Aaron's idea had backfired. He wasn't sure what to do. He couldn't just go for it, could he? Aaron knew sushi was raw of course, but that was for particular cuts of fish prepared in a particular way, wasn't it? His gut clenched, not just from hunger. They would get frustrated with him, wouldn't they? They would figure out he was too much work to take care of. Alexander would stop finding and opening coconuts for him, Hercules and Laurens would stop caring for his injuries, Lafayette wouldn't fetch him water from his shell-cup. 

“Hey, no.” Aaron felt a hand lightly clasp his shoulder. “Stop whatever those thoughts are.” He had worried Hercules. Aaron bit the inside of his lip. How does one mess up this badly at being taken care of? 

“I apologize,” Aaron almost mumbled, trying to think quick. It was hard with the distressing thoughts bouncing through his head. 

Hercules shaking his head brought Aaron's focus back to the real world. “No, don't apologize. Just tell me what's wrong? I don't want to force you, but having some protein in you would really help. You'd heal quicker and feel better.”

There wasn't much else to do. “Humans can't just eat meat raw like that. We have to cook it, usually with heat, or it makes us sick. I'm sorry.” Aaron dipped his head down, so he wouldn't have to look at Hercules' reaction. 

“Cooking? You mean all those fish humans catch constantly, all of it gets cooked? How in the world can any of you afford to feed yourselves!?”

Hercules sounded horrified, on Aaron's behalf rather than at him. Aaron uncurled from the protective hunch he had instinctively pulled himself into. “What do you mean 'afford'? I suppose certain methods of cooking might need expensive appliances, but even most poor people can afford a microwave.” He glanced up, only to immediately realize he'd lost Hercules with talk of electrical appliances- which, he realized, was unfair. “For a long time, people have used fires. Which don't happen underwater, so I assumed that merfolk don't cook food.”

“What, you cook with fire!?” Hercules exploded, before waving a hand in dismissal. “No, that's not important now. What I mean is, yes, we cook, but it's more of a luxury. Only the rich can afford it regularly, you need a master enchanter to make anything that uses heat magic. There are also the steam vents of the deep waters, but the temperatures are too hot to approach for most people. You have to pay an expert to cook in a heat vent, they use ice magic to protect themselves. What comes out is delicious, but really only limited to festivals for most of us.”

That caused Aaron to lean back. “Huh. We use fire or machines that run on electricity, it's a lot cheaper than paying a witch.” It was interesting. Then Aaron remembered his situation. “But I can't do any of that here. I don't mean to waste your hospitality.”

Hercules failed to reply right away, furrowing his brows slightly. “Is that what you're worried about?” He spoke softly, but the words pierced Aaron anyways. 

“I'm already too much work.” Aaron knew denying it would just concern Hercules more. That was the last thing he wanted to do, even if he also really did not want to admit to his thoughts.

Palm fronds rustled as Hercules shifted closer. “You're not too much work.” Hercules looked down, seemingly lost for a moment. But he wasn't the idiot who got knocked off a boat and only survived-and continued to survive- thanks to the pity and good nature of others, was he? “No, stop, listen. I want to help you. We all want to help you.” 

His eyes snapped back to Aaron's, expression deep set and serious. “If it takes finding a way to cook, that's what we'll do. Did you think we were just going to leave you here because your body has a few needs different from us?” 

This time Aaron was the one to look down. It sounded strange, put that way, but still, “I shouldn't have to rely on your pity just to survive.”

Aaron jumped at the sound of warm laughter. Hercules' hand slid farther on his shoulder. Aaron tried not to lean into the contact. “Aaron Burr, are you feeling bad because you need help, mere days after being dragged across miles of ocean from a near death experience?” Aaron frowned, that was a trick question if he'd ever heard one, but why was it amusing? “I'm not helping you out of pity, and if I know anything about my soulmates, which I do,” Soulmates? Aaron filed the word for later. “ They aren't doing any of this out of pity, either.” 

Aaron frowned. “How is this not pity? You feel bad because if you don't keep helping me, I most likely die here from infection or hunger. I'm only here because Alexander was kind enough to not watch me drown. I don't want to be more work.” 

“Well, it's true that even if we hated you, none of us are awful enough to leave you to a slow death.” Hercules mused, and Aaron felt his heart droop again. “But that's not how it is. You're interesting.”

“Interesting? All I've done is sit around and be sick all over the place.” 

Hercules laughed again. Despite how stressed Aaron was right now, it was such a nice sound that he felt himself relaxing. “Well, even sitting around you're pretty interesting.” There was a teasing note to Hercules' voice, and Aaron's heart skipped despite himself. “You barely know anything about Mer, right? It's the same for us. You know, no one's recorded a human in Mer territory since the 1800's?”

Aaron considered the question. “Alexander mentioned it was pretty rare?”

“Exceedingly,” Hercules nodded. “We know just as little about humans as you know about us. So if it bothers you, consider it a transaction. You're going to be stuck fielding everyone's questions about the human territories.”

Something in Aaron loosened at that. It did help. Still, it seemed strange, “Are humans really that interesting to you?”

His eyes lit up. “Well, of course! Alex is probably the most relentless about it, comes from being a chronicler, I think. Laf has a collection of human fiction actually, the rich asshole. John's curious about pretty much everything, and heck, I've always wanted to know more about my heritage.” Aaron opened his mouth slightly, wondering if he should ask what heritage had to do with anything. Hercules immediately noticed the unspoken question anyways. “I have some human-mage blood in me. Not much, just a bit that shows in my magic.”

“I can't use magic, but my friend James is an Earth witch, so I know a bit about it.” Aaron blurted, more out of surprise than anything. He hadn't been aware that Mer and human could reproduce. Merfolk weren't even officially recognized, they were so secretive. Of course, everyone knew there were more fantastical races out there than had already revealed themselves. Satellites didn't just fail at photographing wide swaths of ocean for no reason.

“Really? That's great!” Hercules' smile was blinding. “See, you're already paying us back! So, never think about being work, alright?”

Aaron nodded, even though he didn't quite agree. A bit of information wasn't nearly worth the value of basically nursing him to health. But, if it really meant something to them, well, Aaron considered himself a pretty knowledgeable person. He would do his best to reciprocate. “And hey, the others will be back soon. If you know anything about how humans use fire,” Hercules shook himself slightly at the word, “then we'll do our best to repeat that. Alex might have some information too, in his personal archives or in the National archives- General Washington still lets him have access to it. All else failing, we can use Laf's money to buy a heatpot.”

Hercules' hand slipped away from Aaron and he made the mistake of shifting after it, chasing the touch instinctively. Both of them froze. Aaron waited, for teasing or a noise of disgust, he wasn't sure. Neither came, instead Hercules' eyes filled with something Aaron didn't quite recognize. A hint of nervousness, maybe? 

He kept staring, and Aaron stared back, something fluttering in his abdomen. Finally, Hercules broke the silence, pushing backwards suddenly and scooting towards the water. “I think I hear John or someone, uh, I'm just going to check on that, okay bye!” Water splashed as Hercules hurled himself back into the river. 

Aaron didn't think anyone without legs could move that fast. It was probably a good thing, considering something weird had apparently happened. He hoped it didn't make anything awkward. 

\--

Hercules did not come back for a little while, which was a relief given how the conversation had ended. When he did come back, however, it was with Lafayette. “My dear Hercules tells me you are in need of a fire?” 

Aaron nodded, receiving a strangely solemn nod in return. “We will do our best then, little Burr.”

“There is... a way to constrain the fire, right?” Hercules was hesitant, and Aaron remembered again his brief disbelief at the mention of using fire. 

“Of course,” Aaron assured. “From what I understand, you clear a small area where there's as little wind as possible, then you line a circle with rocks. The fire goes inside, and if there's not too much breeze, it should stay inside. When it's time to sleep, you bank the fire so the embers stay hot for the morning, and also so it can't go anywhere.”

Lafayette hummed in interest, and it was unfair how even that slight sound was captivating in nature. “How does one 'bank' a fire?”

“Well,” Aaron controlled the urge to scratch his face. “First, we should concentrate on starting a fire. The thing is, I'm used to human made devices that create the heat for me. I know the basics, but I've never... actually had to start a fire from scratch.” Aaron tried not to feel useless- he was a city boy in every way, and hadn't even gone camping before. Thomas teased him enough about it, which was stupid besides, seeing as Thomas might actually be more loaded than Aaron and certainly hated nature more than any of them (no Thomas, living in the country doesn't count when you have a mansion-) Even the vacation that stranded him here had been an excessive pampering, from the five star resort to the boat tricked out with all sorts of amenities. 

Said amenities (namely the air conditioning and mini fridge) were, come to think about it, how Aaron had spent half the trip meeting Alexander while Thomas and James sucked face and drank smoothies below deck. That at least was a good turn of fate, since Aaron had apparently endeared himself enough to get rescued. 

“Well, we're going to try our best.” Hercules gave a reassuring smile. Aaron couldn't help but mirror it. In what was clearly a well repeated movement, Lafayette leaned over to Hercules and lightly kissed the corner of his smile. It was returned with a familiarity that seemed almost too personal. 

Aaron hid his surprise, although really, it shouldn't have been surprising. Hercules had mentioned the phrase 'soulmate', it only made sense to be referring to a romantic partner of some kind. But questions of Merfolk relationships could wait for another day. They had a fire to start.

...

They did not have a fire, hours later, even when Alexander and Laurens arrived to help. It wasn't their fault- Aaron knew that Pyrite could make sparks against flint but had no idea what either type of stone looked like. Pyrite was probably brown-ish, and flint spintered easily and was probably dark, but that wasn't descriptive enough for good results. “Well, we can just keep an eye out, if it's not an emergency. Try to test a few new stones each day until we find something?” Laurens asked, after yet another pile of handpicked rocks revealed nothing. 

Hercules glanced at Aaron, a helpless look, before shrugging. “I guess we can continue with fruit for now. But Aaron really should get something more filling, soon.” 

Aaron, who had eaten nothing but coconuts and some unfamiliar tropical fruit for the past several days, agreed wholeheartedly. “Say,” Alexander rested his elbows on the edge of Aaron's frond bed, his lower half comfortably stretched out on the bank of the river. “What is it about cooking that is necessary for you humans?”

Aaron silently thanked him for a question he was actually able to answer. “It kills the microorganisms in the food that are harmful to us. But also, it chemically changes the protein and other components in meat to something much easier for humans to digest.”

Alexander brought a knuckle to his lips, making a long, thoughtful noise. “That sounds familiar...” He plucked at a clump of grass with his other hand, lost in thought. The other Mer fell quiet, letting him think. A spark of anticipation rose into the silent air. 

Despite having learned by now that Alexander was a Mer of sudden movements, Aaron did not anticipate the burst of motion. Alexander shot from the bank with a loud whoop, drenching all of them with the resulting splash. Aaron allowed a long sigh. 

“Oh, what's wrong?” Lafayette turned at Aaron's noise, sounding genuinely baffled. Aaron supposed that getting splashed was the opposite of a problem for Mer, so he probably shouldn't hold it against them. 

“Nothing, just, it's the evening now so my clothes aren't going to dry by night. Humans don't generally find it comfortable sleeping in wet clothes.” He didn't expect them to fully understand, with their strange clothing that was obviously designed for being constantly wet. Although, Aaron was a little surprised in retrospect that the forearm bracers they all wore appeared to be some sort of leather and yet did not smell at all. 

Unsurprisingly, this was new information to all of them. “Does it make you sick?” Laurens pulled a bit closer to get a look, studying the dripping fabric. 

“That's not good, you're still working that fever off.” Hercules' hand itched like he wanted to check Aaron's temperature again. He'd already done so an hour previous. 

Aaron felt a little bad for worrying them yet again. “Well, it can, if it gets too chilly and we sit in it for too long. That's another benefit of having a fire actually, because I could dry off. But I'll be fine, the nights here are warm.”

Laurens frowned. “Is it a matter of only wet clothes, or wet skin as well?” 

“Clothes, because skin dries off much more easily.” Aaron answered without thinking. 

He should have expected the sudden smirk on Lafayette's face. “So you need only take your clothes off, yes?”

Aaron sputtered. “No, absolutely not!”

“Would it help, though?” Laurens looked intrigued.

“I'm not taking my clothes off!” Aaron huffed and drew his knees up to his chest. Honestly!

“I promise we won't mind!” Lafayette giggled and then abruptly stopped when Hercules smacked the back of his head. 

“Hey, knock it off!” Once Lafayette looked suitably chastised, Hercules turned back to Aaron. “No one is going to pressure you into doing anything you're not comfortable with, Aaron.”

“Yeah,” Laurens snickered, “just because you like going around naked, Laf, doesn't mean everyone wants to.”

Lafayette let out a dramatic sigh. “You can't blame me for trying.”

Hercules rolled his eyes, though from the way he was facing, Aaron was the only one to catch it. “That being said, if the alternative is you being uncomfortable all night and possibly getting sick, I would appreciate you considering it. We can give you space, if you prefer.”

Aaron felt warm, the thoughtfulness unexpected amongst the teasing. “I.. that would be nice. I am not sure how Merfolk regard clothing, but for humans, it's considered very improper to go in public without.” Not to mention his long standing body issues, but they didn't need to know about that. 

Hercules nodded. “We're sort of like that, but to a lesser extent. It's not too weird to go around in only bracers, but most people at least wear wraps. Outerwear if you're going out or getting a lot of sun. And Laf's a rich asshole, so he'd be expected to wear wraps and a shawl or something.”

Lafayette shrugged, drawing attention to the lean muscles of his shoulder. “Ah, but I left that life behind for you, my true loves. The trappings of aristocratic society are beyond me, now.”

“The wealth sure isn't.” Laurens snarked, earning a round of chuckles. 

“True, I am not as brave as you, dear Laurens. If it bothers you, only say the word and I will not spend a cent of my fortune.” Lafayette spoke loftily, with flowered language and laughter in his voice. 

Laurens snorted. “Now hold on, I never said that. Just that you're a hypocrite.” This earned a sound of mock outrage as Lafayette launched himself at Laurens. They play-wrestled for a moment, only to give up in collapse of limbs. Hercules rolled his eyes again, but the fondness in his smile was telling. 

Watching the antics of people clearly enamoured with each other, Aaron felt a tiny ball of hidden tension release inside him. This felt comfortable, somehow. Lafayette, trapped now under Laurens, started peppering the Mer's freckled face with tiny kisses, until Laurens laughed and scooted off. The act was sickeningly cute, and Aaron felt himself relax a bit more. 

For the first time, Aaron considered that he may have been over-exposed to PDA growing up, if this was what made him feel a bit like home. Aaron could almost hear the embarrassed “oh my god” James would mutter if he knew. Thomas would just be self satisfied, as he always was. 

The truth of the matter was, wet clothing was rather uncomfortable. Especially with the sun as low on the horizon as it was. Aaron still wasn't quite okay with showing skin to relative strangers, and in fact still had the occasional bad day where he didn't even want to show skin to himself. But it was getting dark, he only really needed to ditch the shirt, and there was something incredibly calming in the air. 

Still, he waited several more minutes before doing anything, just to make sure he was good and comfortable with the decision.

Aaron was halfway into removing his shirt when Alexander came splashing up the river. He paused for a moment, seriously considered abandoning the motion, and then finished pulling the shirt away with a determined air. Alexander lifted a book out of the water and opened his mouth to say something, before zeroing in on Aaron. 

“Why is he undressing? Humans don't usually undress.” He pulled himself onto the grass with a graceful twist and slid closer. “Not that there's anything wrong with that, just that I've observed a lot of humans in my time, and they never leave their homes without clothing.” Alexander's face brightened, “Oh, if you consider this something of a home already, that's awesome!” 

Then, Alexander paused, quirked an eyebrow, and peered down at Aaron's chest. “What are those scars?” Aaron froze. 

The words of course caused everyone to immediately turn to Aaron, and he spared a moment to internally curse. This was exactly the experience he wanted to avoid. “They look painful.” Lafayette had a frown on his lips, one hand slightly extended to the parallel scars on Aaron's chest. Thankfully, he had the foresight not to attempt touch, because that was really not something Aaron could deal with right now.

“They're very uniform. Looks like a surgery,” Laurens offered, and Aaron nearly jumped at the correct guess. 

“Yes, it's from a surgery a while ago.” Aaron hoped they would leave it at that. He was well past any emotional hang-ups surrounding his transition and much healthier for it, but it wasn't a topic he had the emotional energy to explain. Aaron especially did not have the energy to explain it to members of an isolated fantastical race that probably had a very different concept of gender to begin with. If they were anything like the Fae humans already knew about, then their bodies were magic enough to make that sort of change simply by unconscious will- in which case, the concept of being trans would be completely lost on them anyways.

“Oh, alright.” Alexander nodded, accepting the answer despite its vague nature. “Well anyways, as I was saying before, I took a quick trip to my personal archives, and I've found the solution!” More effectively than any intentional distraction, the focus shifted. Lafayette looked like he still wanted to say something, but relented as Alexander prepared to launch into another speech. 

“You weren't saying before, you just launched off suddenly,” Hercules pointed out. 

Alexander rolled his eyes. “details, details. The point is, I have a solution!” From the bag tied to the belt on his hip, Alexander pulled out a lemon, brandishing it proudly beside the book in his other hand (which, considering it looked exactly like the paper books Aaron was used to, he had no idea how it wasn't falling apart from the moisture). 

“How's a lemon supposed to help? You can't be expecting Aaron to eat one.” Hercules wrinkled his nose. “I remember how sour those are.”

“Not quite.” Alexander started, only to be interrupted by Laurens shouting in recognition.

“Oh wait, of course, Ceviche! I didn't even think about that.” Laurens laughed, “I knew the citrus acids made for a kind of cooking, but honestly I haven't had it in so long I didn't even realize.” 

Lafayette made a similar noise of acknowledgement. “I have had it as well. I thought it was just a marinade.”

“No wonder, it's not like anyone eats it much with how hard it is to get lemons,” Alexander explained. “I had to double check that it really does do the same thing as cooking. Also, even back in the heyday of stealing shit from humans, it wasn't like lemons and limes were that plentiful. Now, there's even less.”

Aaron considered the solution. He had never heard of Ceviche before, but the concept of cooking with acid made enough sense. Vinegar was used as a preservative because it killed bacteria, and it could also denature proteins. There was no reason they couldn't accomplish something similar with lemon juice. 

Then again, if lemons were so rare, this would not be a lasting solution. “Excuse me,” Aaron said, “if it's very hard to find lemons, you don't need to waste them for my sake.” Aaron should have expected the shut down he immediately got. 

“Don't say that, you need to eat,” Hercules started.

“Little Burr, you are worth much more than the price of a lemon” Lafayette was next.

“What they said, also it's not actually hard for us, there's a big orchard of all sorts of fruit on the North side of the island.” Laurens finished. 

Aaron considered the information. “Sorry, I didn't realize.”

“It is a little weird,” Alexander agreed. “We think that some humans used to live here, sometime before it became part of Mer territory. There are a lot more edible things than you would expect for a small island like this.”

“Our island is pretty awesome.” Laurens added. 

All four of them grinned at that, and Aaron considered that their pride was well earned. “When I'm less sore, maybe I could check it out.” 

“I can take you there myself, once you've recovered.” Hercules emphasized the last word, his smile turning razor sharp. “ But for now, let's talk less and cook more. It's almost dark out, and Aaron, you're not going to bed without a full stomach.” Somehow Hercules made that sound like a threat, and everyone got to moving, except for Aaron who was fixed in place with a single cool stare. 

The book that talked of fish cooking in lemon juice did not come with a recipe, so as a result the fish ended up mashed with the juice and flesh of several lemons, soaked until they were certain the acid had done its job. The result was unbelievably sour, the fish still uncomfortably raw and bitter.

Honestly, it was one of the most disgusting things Aaron had ever eaten. But it was also one of the most delicious.


End file.
